Cochabamba protests of 2000 194732 221120121 2008-06-23T03:32:45Z Rjwilmsi 203434 gen fixes + format *date= in cite news/web/paper templates - full explanation [[User:Rjwilmsi#My_correction_of_dates_in_templates|here]] using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] [[Image:aguastunari.jpg|right|thumb|325px|Demonstrators demand removal of consortium and end of privatization of water works.]] The '''Cochabamba protests of 2000''', also known as "The Cochabamba Water Wars," were a series of protests that took place in [[Cochabamba]], [[Bolivia]]'s third largest city, between January and April 2000 because of the [[privatization]] of the municipal [[water supply]]. ==Economic Background== The restoration of civilian rule to Bolivia in 1982 ended decades of military dictatorships, but did not bring economic stability. In 1985 with [[hyperinflation]] at an annual rate of twenty-five thousand per cent few foreign investors would do business in the country.<ref name="New Yorker">{{cite news|title=Leasing The Rain|author=William Finnegan|date=2002-04-08|publisher=The New Yorker|url= http://www.waterobservatory.org/library.cfm?refID=33711}} Retrieved on Feb. 15, 2007</ref> The Bolivian government turned to the [[World Bank]] as a last refuge against economic meltdown. For the next 20 years, successive governments followed the World Bank's provisions in order to qualify for continued loans from the organization.<ref name="New Yorker"/> In order to move towards independent development, Bolivia capitalized (its landmark privatization reform) its railways, telephone system, national airlines, and hydrocarbon industry. ==Demand of the World Bank== According to the magazine "The Ecologist", in 2000 the World Bank declared it would not "renew" a $25 million dollar loan to Bolivia unless it privatized its water services.<ref name="Blackwell water">{{ cite news|title=From Coca To Congress|author=Benjamin Blackwell |date= 2002-11-11 |publisher=The Ecologist|url= http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=2612}} Retrieved on Feb. 13, 2007</ref> According to Jim Shultz, executive director of The Democracy Center in Cochabamba, the World Bank believed that “poor governments are often too plagued by local corruption and too ill equipped to run public water systems efficiently. …[and that the use of private corporations] opens the door to needed investment and skilled management",<ref name="Nation water">{{cite news|date= [[January 28]], [[2005]] |title= The Politics of Water in Bolivia |author=Jim Shultz|publisher=The Nation|url= http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050214/shultz}} Retrieved on Feb. 13, 2007</ref> In a 1999 Public Expenditure Review the World Bank stated that “no subsidies should be given to ameliorate the increase in water tariffs in Cochabamba”.<ref name="Frontline"/> ''[[The New Yorker]]'' reported on the World Bank's motives, “Most of the poorest neighborhoods were not hooked up to the network, so state subsidies to the water utility went mainly to industries and middle-class neighborhoods; the poor paid far more for water of dubious purity from trucks and handcarts. In the World Bank's view, it was a city that was crying out for water privatization.”<ref name="New Yorker"/> ==The ''Aguas del Tunari'' consortium== Prior to privatization the water works of Cochabamba were controlled by the state agency [[SEMAPA]]. The Bolivian government put SEMAPA up for auction for privatization but not capitalization. Only one party was willing to bid on the project.”.<ref name="Nash">{{cite book|title=Social Movements: An Anthropological Reader|author=June C. Nash|publisher=Blackwell Publishing |Location=United Kingdom|date=2002}}</ref> This was ''Aguas del Tunari'', a consortium led by [[International Water Limited]] (England), the utility [[Edison]] (Italy), [[Bechtel|Bechtel Enterprise Holdings]] (USA), the engineering and construction firm [[Abengoa]] (Spain) and two companies from Bolivia, [[ICE Ingenieros]] and the cement maker [[SOBOCE]].<ref name="CNN Water">{{cite news|title=Protests rock Bolivia; officials blame drug traffickers|date=2000-04-10|publisher=CNN|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/04/10/bolivia.protests/index.html}} Retrieved on Feb. 13, 2007</ref> The water network that they envisioned was projected to provide drinking water to all of the people of Cochabamba. This was set to double the existing coverage area and also introduce electrical production to more of the region.<ref name="CNN Water"/> Without regard for its weak bargaining position, the Bolivian government under President [[Hugo Banzer]] agreed to the terms of its sole bidder ''Aguas del Tunari'' and signed a $2.5 billion, 40-year concession "to provide water and sanitation services to the residents of Cochabamba, as well as generate electricity and irrigation for agriculture."<ref name="Nash"/><ref name="New Yorker"/> Within the terms of the contract the consortium was guaranteed a minimum fifteen-per-cent annual return on its investment, which was to be annually adjusted to the United State’s consumer price index.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The implementation of ''Aguas del Tunari's'' program was set to correlate with a government plan to present a $63 million rural development package to peasants with funds for crop diversification, and extending electric and telephone services to remote areas.<ref name="CNN tensions">{{cite news|title= Bolivian tension mounts as roadblock deadline looms|date=2000-10-03|publisher=CNN|url= http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/10/03/bolivia.protests.reut/index.html}} Retrieved on Feb. 14, 2007</ref> ==Law 2029== To ensure the legality of the privatization the Bolivian government passed law 2029, which verified the contract with ''Aguas del Tunari''. To many the law appeared to give a monopoly to ''Aguas del Tunari'' over all water resources. Many feared that this included water used for irrigation by peasant ''campesino'' farmers, and community-based resources that had previously been independent of regulation.<ref name="Nash"/> The law was seen as "enabling the sale of water resources that had never really been a part of SEMAPA in the first place."<ref name="Nash"/> It was worried that independent communal water systems which had yet to be connected with SEMAPA would be "summarily appropriated by the new concession."<ref name="Nash"/> By Law 2029, if ''Aguas del Tunari'' had wanted to, not only could it have installed meters and begin charging at independently built communal water systems, but it could have also charged residents for the installation of those meters.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The broad nature of Law 2029 led many to claim that the government would require a license be obtained for people to collect rainwater from their roofs,<ref name="Blackwell water"/> an unenforceable policy. The first to raise concerns over the scope of the law was the new ''Feracion Departamental Cochabambina de Regantes'' (FEDECOR) and its leader [[Omar Fernandez]].<ref name="Nash"/> FEDECOR was made up of local professionals, including engineers and environmentalists.<ref name="New Yorker"/> They were joined by a federation of peasant farmers who relied on irrigation, and a confederation of factory workers' unions lead by [[Oscar Olivera]].<ref name="New Yorker"/> Together these groups formed ''Coördinator for the Defense of Water and Life'', or ''La Coordinadora'' which became the core of the opposition to the policy.<ref name="Nash"/><ref name="New Yorker"/> ==Rate hike== As a condition of the contract ''Aguas del Tunari'' had agreed to pay down the $30 million in debt accumulated by SEMAPA. They also agreed to finance an expansion of the water system, and begin a much needed maintenance program on the existing deteriorating water system.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Dider Quint, a managing director for the consortium, said "We were confident that we could implement this program in a shorter period of time than the one required by the contract. [To accomplish this] We had to reflect in the tariff increase all the increases that had never been implemented before."<ref name="New Yorker"/> On top of this, in order to secure the contract ''Aguas del Tunari'' had to promise the Bolivian government to fund the completion of the stalled Misicuni dam project.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The dam was purportedly designed to pipe water through the mountains, but the World Bank had deemed it uneconomic. While the consortium had no interest in building the dam, as it was backed by an influential member of Banzer’s megacoalition, the mayor of Cochabamba, [[Manfred Reyes Villa]], it was a condition of their contract.<ref name="New Yorker"/> An attempt to privatize the water system had been made without the condition of building the dam in 1997, but Reyes Villa had used his influence to squash the deal.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Critics of Reyes Villa held that the dam was a “vanity project” which would profit “some of his main financial backers”.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The officials in Bolivia for ''Aguas del Tunari'' were mostly engineers lacking marketing training.<ref name="New Yorker"/> They were also foreigners unaware of the intricacies of Bolivian society and economics.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Upon taking control the company raised water rates an average of 35% to about $20 a month. While this seemed minuscule in the developed nations that the ''Aguas del Tunari'' staff had come from, many of their new clients only earned about $100 a month and $20 was more than they spent on food.<ref name="Blackwell water"/> In complete ignorance of the reality of his situation, a manager for the consortium, Geoffrey Thorpe simply said "if people didn't pay their water bills their water would be turned off."<ref name="New Yorker"/> The poor were joined in their protest by January 2000, when middle-class homeowners and large business owners stripped of their subsidies saw their own water bills increase.<ref name="New Yorker"/> As anger over the rates mounted, Reyes Villa was quick to distance himself from ''Aguas del Tunari''.<ref name="New Yorker"/> ==Protests and state of emergency == Demonstrations erupted when [[Aguas del Tunari]] imposed a large rate increase, reportedly to finance the Misicuni [[Dam]] project, a week after taking control of the Cochabamba water supply system. In a country where the [[minimum wage]] was less than US$70 per month, many dwellers were hit with monthly water bills of $20 or more. Starting in early January 2000 massive protests in Cochabamba began with Oscar Olivera among the most outspoken leaders against the rate hikes and subsequent water cut-offs.<ref name="Shultz">{{cite news|title= Bolivia's Water War Victory|publisher=Earth Island Journal | date=2000-09-22|author=Shultz, Jim| url= http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/South_America/Bolivia_WaterWarVictory.html}} Retrieved on Feb. 14, 2007</ref><ref name="CNN Water"/> The demonstrators consisted of ''regantes'' (peasant irrigators) who entered the city either under village banners, or carrying the ''[[wiphala]]'', they were joined by ''jubilados'' (retired unionized factory workers) under the direction of Olivera <ref name="New Yorker"/> and ''[[cholitas]]''.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Young men began to try and take over the plaza and a barricade across incoming roadways was set up.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Soon they were joined by pieceworkers, sweatshop employees, and street vendors (a large segment of the economy since the closure of the state owned tin mines).<ref name="New Yorker"/> Self-styled [[anarchist]]s from the middle-classes came from the University of Cochabamba to denounce the World Bank and [[International Monetary Fund]] and [[neoliberalism]].<ref name="New Yorker"/> The strongest supporters of the demonstration were drawn from the city's growing population of homeless street children.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Protesters were able to halt Cochabamba's economy by holding a [[general strike]] that shut down the city for four straight days.<ref name="Shultz"/> A ministerial delegation went to Cochabamba and agreed to roll back the water rates, still the demonstration continued.<ref name="New Yorker"/> On [[February 4]], [[2000]] thousands marching in protest were met by troops and law enforcement from Oruro and La Paz.<ref name="Shultz"/><ref name="New Yorker"/> Two days of clashes occurred with the police using teargas.<ref name="Shultz"/> Almost 200 demonstrators were arrested, 70 protesters and 51 policemen were injured.<ref name="New Yorker"/> Throughout March 2000 the Bolivian hierarchy of the [[Roman Catholic]] Church tried to mediate between the government and the demonstrators. In the meantime, the ''Coordinadora'' made their own referendum and declared that out of fifty thousand votes 96% demanded the contract with ''Aguas del Tunari'' be cancelled.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The Government's reply was that "There is nothing to negotiate."<ref name="New Yorker"/> In April 2000, demonstrators again took over Cochabamba's central plaza. When the leaders of the ''Coordinadora'' (including Óscar Olivera) went to a meeting with the governor at his office they were arrested. Though they were released the following day, some, fearing further government action, fled into hiding. More demonstration leaders were arrested, with some being transferred to a jungle prison in San Joaquin, a remote town in the [[Amazon rainforest]] on the border with Brazil.<ref name="New Yorker"/><ref name="Milwaukee"/> The demonstrations spread quickly to other areas including La Paz, Oruro, and Potosí as well as rural areas. The protesters also expanded their demands calling on the government to resolve unemployment and other economic problems.<ref name="CNN Water"/> Soon demonstrators had most of the major highways in Bolivia barricaded.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The protest even inspired officers in four La Paz police units to refuse to leave their barracks or obey superiors until a wage dispute was settled.<ref name="Milwaukee">{{cite news|title=Bolivian president declares state of siege|publisher=Associated Press|date=2000-04-09|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20000409/ai_n10596553}} Retrieved on Feb. 16, 2007</ref>. ===State of emergency === <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:ACF488.jpg|right|thumb|Police face off against demonstrators during the conflict.]] --> The Bolivian Constitution allows the President (with the support of his Cabinet) to declare a 90 day [[state of siege]] in one or more districts of the nation as an emergency measure to maintain public order in "cases of serious danger resulting from an internal civil disturbance”.<ref name="Amnesty Int">{{cite news|publisher= Amnesty International|date= [[14 April]] [[2000]]|title= Bolivia: The state of siege is no excuse for human rights violations|url= http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR180022000?open&of=ENG-394}} Retrieved on Feb. 16, 2007</ref><ref name="senat">{{cite web|title=The Senate Of Bolivia|url=http://www.senat.fr/senatsdumonde/english/bolivie.html|publisher=Sénats d'Europe, Sénats du Monde}} Retrieved on Feb. 16, 2007</ref> Any extension beyond 90 days must be approved of by the Congress.<ref name="senat"/> Anyone arrested at this time must be released after 90 days unless criminal charges are brought against them before a court.<ref name="Amnesty Int"/> With the roads cut off and fearing a repeat of the 1781 [[Tupac Katari]] Amero-Indian uprising that trapped white Spaniards in the city of La Paz for 109 days (forcing them to eat rats and shoe leather to survive) President Banzer on April 8, 2000 declared a "state of siege".<ref name="New Yorker"/> Banzer said, "We see it as our obligation, in the common best interest, to decree a state of emergency to protect law and order."<ref name="Shultz"/><ref name="New Yorker"/> Information Minister Ronald McLean described the rationale for the decree, saying “We find ourselves with a country with access roads to the cities blocked, with food shortages, passengers stranded and chaos beginning to take hold in other cities.”<ref name="Milwaukee"/> The decree suspended "some constitutional guarantees, allowing police to detain protest leaders without a warrant, restrict travel and political activity and establish a curfew."<ref name="CNN Water"/> Meetings of over four people were outlawed, and the freedom of the press was curtailed with radio stations being taken over by the military and some newspaper reporters being arrested.<ref name="Shultz"/> The police moved in to enforce the policy with nighttime raids and mass arrests.<ref name="CNN Water"/><ref name="Blackwell water"/> At one point 20 labor union and civic leaders were arrested.<ref name="CNN Water"/> The police's tear gas and rubber bullets were met by the protesters' rocks and Molotov cocktails.<ref name="Milwaukee">{{cite news|title=Bolivian president declares state of siege|publisher=Associated Press|date=2000-04-09|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20000409/ai_n10596553}} Retrieved on Feb. 16, 2007</ref> Continuing violent clashes between the demonstrators and law enforcement led to internal exile, 40 injuries, and 5 deaths.<ref name="Blackwell water"/><ref name="CNN Water"/> International Human Rights Organizations decried the "state of siege" declaration.<ref name="Amnesty Int"/><ref name="ICJ">{{cite news|title= Bolivia - ICJ Urges Respect for Human Rights in Bolivian State of Siege|url= http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2511&lang=en|date= 2000-04-18 | publisher= The International Commission of Jurists}} Retrieved at Feb. 16, 2007</ref> This was the seventh time since Bolivia returned to democracy in 1982 that the "state of siege" decree has been employed.<ref name="Milwaukee">{{cite news|title=Bolivian president declares state of siege|publisher=Associated Press|date=2000-04-09|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20000409/ai_n10596553}} Retrieved on Feb. 16, 2007</ref> On April 9, 2000 near the city of Achacachi, soldiers met resistance to removing a roadblock and opened fire killing two people (including a teen-age boy) and wounding several others. Angry residents overpowered soldiers and used their weapons against military leaders. They wounded Battalion commander Armando Carrasco Nava and army captain Omar Jesus Tellez Arancibia. The demonstrators then found Tellez in hospital, dragged him from his bed, beat him to death and dismembered his body.<ref name="nadir">{{cite web|title=Bolivians Protest Under State Of Siege|url= http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/bolivia/txt/2000/0417battles_back.txt}} Retrieved on Feb. 17, 2007</ref> Also on [[April 9]], [[2000]] 800 striking police officers fired tear gas at soldiers (to which the soldier then fired their weapons in the air).<ref name="nadir"/> In response the government gave a 50% pay raise to the La Paz police to end the strike. This brought their monthly income up from the equivalent of $80 to $120.<ref name="nadir"/> The police then returned to enforcement procedures against those still demonstrating.<ref name="nadir"/> A group of soldiers soon demanded their own raise, declaring that there was racial discrimination in the pay scale. Police in Santa Cruz, the nation's second largest city, also went on strike demanding a raise.<ref name="nadir"/> ==Government view of the demonstrators== The coca growers of Bolivia led by then Congressman [[Evo Morales]] (elected President of Bolivia [[Bolivian presidential election, 2005|in December 2005]]) had joined the demonstrators and were demanding an end to the [[Coca eradication|US-sponsored program of eradication]] of their crops (while coca can be heavily refined and made into cocaine it is used legally by many in Bolivia for teas and for chewing). Seeing the involvement of the coca growers, the Bolivian government claimed that the demonstrators were actually agents or pawns of drug traffickers.<ref name="New Yorker"/> [[Ronald MacLean Abaroa]], the Minister of Information, told reporters the demonstrations were the work of drug traffickers trying to stop the government program to eradicate coca fields and replace them with cotton, pineapples, and bananas. He said that "These protests [were] a conspiracy financed by cocaine trafficking looking for pretexts to carry out subversive activities. It is impossible for so many farmers to spontaneously move on their own."<ref name="CNN Water"/> MacLean said President [[Hugo Banzer]] was worried because "political groups and traffickers are instigating farmers to confront the army."<ref name="CNN Water"/> Felix Santos, a leader of the farmers refuted such claims saying “We are protesting because of higher gasoline and transportation prices and a law that will charge us for the use of water.”<ref name="CNN Water"/> ==Protesters' demands expand== Teachers of state schools in rural areas went on strike calling for salary increases (at the time they made $1,000 a year). In the capital city of La Paz students began to fight running battles with police. Demonstrators put up roadblocks of stones, bricks and barrels near Achacachi and Batallas, and violence broke out there as well (one army officer and two farmers were killed and dozens injured). Soldiers and police soon cleared most of the roadblocks that had cut off highways in five of the country's nine provinces.<ref name="CNN Water"/> ==Resolution== After a televised recording of a Bolivian Army captain, Robinson Iriarte de la Fuente, firing a rifle into a crowd of demonstrators wounding many and hitting high school student Víctor Hugo Daza in the face, killing him, intense anger erupted.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The police told the executives of the consortium that their safety could no longer be guaranteed. The executives then fled from Cochabamba to [[Santa Cruz]].<ref name="New Yorker"/> After coming out of four days of hiding, Oscar Olivera signed a concord with the government guaranteeing the removal of ''Aguas del Tunari'' and turning Cochabamba’s water works over to ''La Coordinadora''. Detained demonstrators were to be released and Law 2029 repealed.<ref name="Frontline">{{cite news|url= http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/timeline.html|title=Timeline:Cochabamba Water Revolt|publisher=PBS|date=June, 2002}} Retrieved on Feb. 15, 2007</ref> The Banzer government then told ''Aguas del Tunari'' that by leaving Cochabamba they had "abandoned" the concession and declared the $200 million contract revoked. The company, insisting that it had not left voluntarily but been forced out, filed a $40 million lawsuit in the [[International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes]] an appellate body of the [[World Bank]] against the Bolivian government, “claiming compensation for lost profits under a bilateral investment treaty.”<ref name="Blackwell water"/> On the day following Víctor Hugo Daza's funeral, Óscar Olivera climbed to his union office's balcony and proclaimed victory to the exhausted crowd.<ref name="New Yorker"/> The demonstrators declared that they would not relent until Law 2029 was changed. To get a [[quorum]] to amend the law the government even rented planes to fly legislators back to the capital. In a special session on [[April 11]], [[2000]] the law was changed.<ref name="nadir"/> ==Aftermath== ===World Bank and continuing protests === On [[April 12]], [[2000]] when asked about the outcome in Bolivia, World Bank President James Wolfensohn maintained that free or subsidized delivery of a public service like water leads to abuse of the resource; he said, “The biggest problem with water is the waste of water through lack of charging.”<ref name="Frontline"/> In Washington, D.C. at the [[April 16]], [[2000]] IMF and World Bank meetings protesters attempted to blockade the streets to stop the meeting. They cited the Water Wars in Bolivia as an example of corporate greed and a reason to resist globalisation. Oscar Olivera attended the protests, saying, "The people have recaptured their dignity, their capacity to organize themselves - and most important of all, the people are no longer scared."<ref name="Frontline"/> On [[April 23]], [[2002]] Oscar Olivera led 125 protesters to the San Francisco headquarters of Bechtel the only member of ''Aguas del Tunari'' located in the Americas. Olivera says “With the $25 million they are seeking, 125,000 people could have access to water.” Bechtel officials agreed to meet him.<ref name="Frontline"/> The victory gained the ''cocalero'' and ''campesino'' groups international support from anti-globalisation groups.<ref name="Blackwell water"/> Oscar Olivera and Omar Fernandez have become sought after speakers at venues discussing how to resist resource privatization and venues critical of the World Bank. His actions in the Water Wars raised the profile of Congressman [[Evo Morales]] and he became President of Bolivia in 2005. Omar Fernandez joined Morales' socialist party ''[[Movimiento al Socialismo]]'' and became a Bolivian senator.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rights to Water (Latin America)|url=http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-93819-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html}} Retrieved on Feb. 15, 2007</ref> The Cochabamba protests of 2000 are chronicled by Oscar Olivera, a Bolivian social leader and participant in the Water Wars, in his book [http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=2-0896087026-0 Cochabamba! Water Rebellion in Bolivia]. ===Legal settlement=== On [[January 19]], [[2006]] a settlement was reached between the Government of Bolivia (then under the Presidency of Evo Morales) and ''Aguas del Tunari'', it was agreed that "the concession was terminated only because of the civil unrest and the state of emergency in Cochabamba and not because of any act done or not done by the international shareholders of Aguas del Tunari". With this statement both parties agreed to drop any financial claims against the other.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cochabamba Water Dispute Settled|date=2006-01-19|url=http://www.bechtel.com/newsarticles/487.asp}}</ref> ===Iriarte case=== When no sitting judge would hear the case against Captain Robinson Iriarte, it was transferred to a military tribunal (that had final jurisdiction over which cases it hears). In March 2002, Captain Iriarte was acquitted by the tribunal of any responsibility for the death of Víctor Hugo Daza. After Iriarte's acquittal, he was promoted to the rank of major.<ref name="New Yorker"/><ref name="Frontline"/> ===Continued lack of water in Cochabamba=== In the end water prices in Cochabamba returned to their pre-2000 levels with a group of community leaders running the restored state utility company SEMAPA. As late as 2005, half of the 600,000 people of Cochabamba remained without water and those with it only received intermittent service (some as little as three hours a day). Oscar Olivera the leading figure in the protests admitted, "I would have to say we were not ready to build new alternatives."<ref name="Times Water">{{cite news|title= Bolivia regrets IMF experiment | author=Juan Forero|publisher=The New York Times|date=2005-12-14|url= http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/14/business/water.php}} Retrieved on Feb. 14, 2007</ref> SEMAPA managers say they are still forced to deal with graft and inefficiencies, but that its biggest problem is a lack of money (it can not raise rates and no international company will give them a loan).<ref name="Times Water"/> Luis Camargo, SEMAPA’s operations manager in an interview with the [[New York Times]] said they were forced to continue using a water-filtration system that is split between “an obsolete series of 80-year-old tanks and a 29-year-old section that uses gravity to move mountain water from one tank to another.”<ref name="Times Water"/> He stated that the system was built for a far smaller city and worried about shrinking aquifers. A system to bring water down from the mountains would cost $300 million and SEMAPA’s budget is only about $5 million a year.<ref name="Times Water"/> ''[[The New Yorker]]'' reports "in Cochabamba, those who are not on the network and who have no well, pay ten times as much for their water as the relatively wealthy residents who are hooked up", and with no new capital the situation can not be improved.<ref name="New Yorker"/> A local resident complained that water-truck operators "drill polluted water and sell it. They [also] waste a lot of water.”<ref name="New Yorker"/> According to author Frederik Segerfeldt, "the poor of Cochabamba are still paying 10 times as much for their water as the rich, connected households and continue to indirectly subsidize water consumption of more well-to-do sectors of the community. Water nowadays is available only four hours a day and no new households have been connected to the supply network."<ref>Frederik Segerfeldt, [http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&pid=1441248&method=search&t=water&a=&k=&aeid=&adv=&pg ''Water for Sale'']</ref> Franz Taquichiri, a veteran of the Water War and an SEMAPA director elected by the community, said "I don't think you'll find people in Cochabamba who will say they're happy with service. No one will be happy unless they get service 24 hours a day."<ref name="Times Water"/> Another Cochabamba resident and activist during the unrest summed up her opinion of the situation by saying, “afterwards, what had we gained? We were still hungry and poor.”<ref>{{cite book|title=2005 Isyp Yearbook on Science and World Affairs: International Student/Young Pugwash Yearbook 2005|author=Arthur Petersen, Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra|publisher= Transaction Publishers|date=2005|location=Amsterdam, Netherlands}}</ref> == Aguas de Illimani == Similar protests took place in [[La Paz]] over [[Aguas de Illimani]], a subsidiary of the French multinational [[Suez (company)|Suez]]. Aguas de Illimani's contract with the state was broken after allegations were made by the Bolivian government that it did not respect all of the clauses of the contract. According to the Bolivian ambassador Pablo Solón, the International Financial Society, part of the [[World Bank Group]], was a share-holder of Aguas de Illimani. The ambassador pointed out that since the case was brought before the [[ICSID]], which is an arm of the World Bank, a conflict of interest arose in this affair <ref> [[Mark Weisbrot]], [http://risal.collectifs.net/article.php3?id_article=2298 Le CIRDI en ligne de mire : la Bolivie, le Venezuela et le Nicaragua claquent la porte], [[RISAL]], 10 July 2007 {{fr icon}}</ref>. == Film documentaries == *''[[The Corporation]]'' *''[http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com Blue Gold: World Water Wars]'' by [[Sam Bozzo]] *''[[Thirst (movie)]]'' ==References== {{reflist|2}} == See also == *[[ICSID]] (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) *[[Bolivian Gas War]] *[[Bolivian presidential election, 2005]] ==External links== *[http://www.pbs.org/now/science/bolivia.html PBS program NOW on the Water Wars] *[http://www.bechtel.com/newsarticles/65.asp Bechtel's version of events] *[http://www.democracyctr.org/waterwar/ Jim Shultz's version of events] *[http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/2005/11/launching-final-battle-in-bolivias.html Shultz's blog during the events] *[http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/ "Leasing the Rain"] June 2002 Co-Production of ''NOW with Bill Moyers'' and ''Frontline/World''. *[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/02/MN41536.DTL "Bechtel battles against dirt-poor Bolivia: Nation severed water deal after hefty rate increases led to protests"] February 2, 2002 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' *[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/11/SC197565.DTL "Cochabamba's Water Rebellion -- and Beyond"] February 11, 2001 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/business/story_fdh210700.shtml "Multinational Company Thwarted by Local Bolivian Community"] July 21, 2000 ''BBC News'' *[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1072768 "Protests in Bolivia"] April 11, 2000 NPR's ''Morning Edition'' *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_706000/706770.stm "Violence Erupts in Bolivia"] April 8, 2000 ''BBC News'' * Olivera, Oscar, [http://society.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1823372,00.html "The voice of the People can dilute corporate power"] Wednesday July 19, 2006 ''The Guardian'' [[Category:2000 riots]] [[Category:2000 in Bolivia]] [[Category:Bechtel Corporation]] [[Category:History of Bolivia]] [[Category:Protests in Bolivia]] [[Category:Water and politics]] [[Category:Cochabamba]] [[es:Guerra del Agua (Bolivia)]] [[fr:Guerre de l'eau (Bolivie)]] [[ja:コチャバンバ水紛争]] [[nn:Oppstanden mot vassprivatiseringa i Cochabamba]] [[sv:Vattenkriget i Bolivia 2000]]